MADRID: Spain sold 4.7 billion euros ($5.5 billion) of debt at a triple bond auction on Thursday, with yields falling as investors await details of European Central Bank bond-buying scheme given the green light by the European Court of Justice on Wednesday.
Spain's Treasury sold slightly more than its mid-range goal of 4.5 billion euros, and hit a new record low yield on its sale of the benchmark five-year debt.
Spain sold the benchmark, bond due Jan 31, 2020, at an average yield of 0.849 percent, down from 0.928 percent at its last outing on Jan. 8. The Treasury sold slightly less than 1.8 billion euros of that paper, which was 2.4 times subscribed versus 1.5 times earlier in the month.
The Treasury also sold 1.6 billion euros of a bond due Oct 31, 2017, at an average yield of 0.556 percent compared to 0.584 percent in a Dec. 4 auction. The bid-to-cover ratio, a measure of demand, was 3.2, the same as last time.
The Treasury sold just under 1.4 billion euros of a 5.85 percent bond due Jan 31, 2022 at an average yield of 1.147 percent and a bid-to-cover of 2.4.
The nearest comparable bond, an Oct. 31, 2023 bond with a 4.4 percent coupon, was last sold in December at an average yield of 1.577 percent.
The Treasury has changed the way it sets its bond sale targets, providing a range - in this case to sell between 4 billion and 5 billion euros - but with the aiming of hitting the middle of that range. ($1 = 0.8562 euros)
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